Wow! it was bound to happen

[Tiptx1122]

I have found I hit the new TaylorMade Stealth 12° longer and straighter than a 10.5° lofted up to 12°. Same shaft moved from one head to the other. I don't know what that adds to this observation, but there it is for me. With my swing speed 88-92 mph maybe it's time to make the change as I don't see a big difference in ball flight either. I haven't played in windy conditions as this is all done from indoor testing. I've only played a 12* driver once before when I had the PING K15 as that was several years ago. Maybe its time to check my ego and just learn to get more out of my game. I'm even thinking about playing from the senior Tee's as I am 66 now but have been playing some of the best golf in my life. How many other have been please when they made the switch to loft up?

[bnperrone]

You probably notice the difference because the face angle of the 12* will be different than the 10.5* lofted up to 12*. 

 

I'm playing a 10.5* driver over the last couple years and it was a great move. I remember when I was a junior there used to be this stigma that better players played an 8 or 8.5* driver but less accomplished players played 9 or 10*. It's garbage. There's no ego to be concerned with regarding driver loft. It's a function of how you present the club at impact. 

Before I moved to the 10.5* driver I was in a fitting session with somebody else and we started working on posture and pre-setting my body to hit way up on the ball, and getting my shoulders pointed that way. He also had me in longer lighter shafts for speed. I started hitting bombs like that but I could barely take 10 swings and my back hurt. When I took the club to the range to test it out it was hot and cold and the same with it producing soreness. It isn't worth it. Obviously I didn't buy it, then later on working with a fitter I've known for a very long time I wound up lofted up and we tried a shorter shaft at my request and got the most repeatable results I've ever seen, with hardly any top-end distance sacrificed from the unsustainable setup. 

 

If it works it's right.   

[mgoblue83]

9 minutes ago, bnperrone said:

You probably notice the difference because the face angle of the 12* will be different than the 10.5* lofted up to 12*. 

 

I'm playing a 10.5* driver over the last couple years and it was a great move. I remember when I was a junior there used to be this stigma that better players played an 8 or 8.5* driver but less accomplished players played 9 or 10*. It's garbage. There's no ego to be concerned with regarding driver loft. It's a function of how you present the club at impact. 

Before I moved to the 10.5* driver I was in a fitting session with somebody else and we started working on posture and pre-setting my body to hit way up on the ball, and getting my shoulders pointed that way. He also had me in longer lighter shafts for speed. I started hitting bombs like that but I could barely take 10 swings and my back hurt. When I took the club to the range to test it out it was hot and cold and the same with it producing soreness. It isn't worth it. Obviously I didn't buy it, then later on working with a fitter I've known for a very long time I wound up lofted up and we tried a shorter shaft at my request and got the most repeatable results I've ever seen, with hardly any top-end distance sacrificed from the unsustainable setup. 

 

If it works it's right.   

 

 

+1

 

Additionally most of the high speed tour players purposely loft up (10.5 is very common) so that they can use the "-" setting which opens the face angle and helps prevent the left miss. 

 

 

 

[bnperrone]

6 hours ago, mgoblue83 said:

 

 

+1

 

Additionally most of the high speed tour players purposely loft up (10.5 is very common) so that they can use the "-" setting which opens the face angle and helps prevent the left miss. 

 

 

 

Yep. I have, for example, a Titleist hybrid and my only intent is to play it lofted down and flat in C1, with the CG weight in the fade setting. That equals straight for me.

[A.Princey]

I’d venture a very likely guess that most amateurs are using too little loft on their driver to begin with.

[@_the_crook]

21 hours ago, bnperrone said:

Yep. I have, for example, a Titleist hybrid and my only intent is to play it lofted down and flat in C1, with the CG weight in the fade setting. That equals straight for me.

I thought I knew what you meant, but when I read it for the second time the logic of it escaped me.

 

I've used draw settings on a D and FW up to fight my l-r tendencies.

that lofts things up and opens the face, as I understand

not sure of you are pointing to that or the opposite.

 

thanks.

 

 

[bnperrone]

1 hour ago, @_the_crook said:

I thought I knew what you meant, but when I read it for the second time the logic of it escaped me.

 

I've used draw settings on a D and FW up to fight my l-r tendencies.

that lofts things up and opens the face, as I understand

not sure of you are pointing to that or the opposite.

 

thanks.

 

 

Decreasing from the club’s stated loft opens the face. Increasing loft from stated closes the face. Somebody else can explain all the physics of it better than I can, but my understanding is that the difference is more pronounced on some adjustment systems/brands than others. 

[Billfitz]

It's that way because of how the loft adjustment works, rotating the adapter/shaft in an elliptical pattern. When you do that you can't adjust loft independently, it's going to change the face angle as well. Some adapters use a dual adjustment system to minimize the effect.

[@_the_crook]

1 hour ago, bnperrone said:

Decreasing from the club’s stated loft opens the face. Increasing loft from stated closes the face

many thanks for this.

[dwboston]

1 hour ago, bnperrone said:

Decreasing from the club’s stated loft opens the face. Increasing loft from stated closes the face. Somebody else can explain all the physics of it better than I can, but my understanding is that the difference is more pronounced on some adjustment systems/brands than others. 

 

That's the "dirty secret" of many adjustable drivers.  You're not increasing or decreasing the loft, you're just changing the face angle.  Think about it, the actual loft on the face doesn't change - it's fixed.  You need to return the face to square at impact to realize the result of increased/decreased loft from the adapter setting change. 

 

Using a Titleist driver as an example, if you go from standard loft in the A1 setting to +1.5* in the A4 setting, you've really closed the face 1.5*.  You would need to get the face back to square at impact (by opening it during the swing) to have it behave like an 11.5* driver.

Edited January 29, 2022 by dwboston

[A.Princey]

17 minutes ago, dwboston said:

 

That's the "dirty secret" of many adjustable drivers.  You're not increasing or decreasing the loft, you're just changing the face angle.  Think about it, the actual loft on the face doesn't change - it's fixed.  You need to return the face to square at impact to realize the result of increased/decreased loft from the adapter setting change. 

 

Using a Titleist driver as an example, if you go from standard loft in the A1 setting to +1.5* in the A4 setting, you've really closed the face 1.5*.  You would need to get the face back to square at impact (by opening it during the swing) to have it behave like an 11.5* driver.

Contrary to many people’s thought, most players do manipulate the club face prior to swinging. Not many just lay it on the ground and grip it neutrally as if the face angle is fixed.